Getting the Washington Post Free Through Amazon Prime

Thanks to a post on Mark Shainblum's Facebook page, I found out that Canadian members of Amazon Prime can get the Washington Post for six months free by installing Amazon's Washington Post Android app. I had thought that Amazon didn't allow app downloads or purchases in Canada, but I guess that has changed since they started selling their Fire tablets here.

The process isn't as straightforward as installing an app from Google's Play Store but it is possible. I didn't make notes when I was installing the Washington Post app, and I did run into some problems, but the procedure below is close to what I did. (FYI, I am using a Samsung Galaxy S8 running Android Oreo. The process may vary depending on your phone and OS).

1. First download the Amazon Appstore app. On your device, go to https://www.amazon.ca/androidapp and download the APK file. 
2. If you get a warning about downloading third-party apps, allow the download and install it.
3. Open the Amazon Appstore app. 
4. Find the News section (not Newspapers) and then find the Washington Post app.
5. Add the app to your Wishlist. (You may get an error message saying that it was unsuccessful, but it should get added anyway).
6.  Go to your Wishlist and install the app. Accept any requests to install third-party apps.
7. The app should now appear in your app drawer.

 The app is optimized for tablets but works perfectly well on my Galaxy S8. It does have two features I like: a night-mode setting and the ability to share articles, which means I can send long articles to Pocket so I can read them on my Kindle.

The subscription is free for six months as long as you are an Amazon Prime member. After that, I think it is $4/month. I say "think" because the information is hard to track down. That seems a reasonable price; if it turns out to be more than that, I will likely cancel it.